Following Qatar’s release of eight ex-Indian Navy personnel who were previously imprisoned on espionage charges, several videos and posts are circulating widely on social media, alleging that Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan was involved in facilitating the release of Indians from Qatar. Let’s verify the authenticity of such claims.
Claim: Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan was involved in facilitating the release of 8 Indian Navy veterans from Qatar.
Fact: Shah Rukh Khan’s manager issued a statement on his behalf, firmly denying Khan’s involvement in this matter. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Firstly, we found that these suppositions were based on a tweet (archived) by BJP Leader Subramanian Swamy. On 13 February 2024, Swamy stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take Shah Rukh Khan to the Gulf country along with him, claiming that Shah Rukh Khan intervened to secure the release of the Indian Navy veterans from Qatar jail after the Indian government failed to do so.
When these rumours spread widely, Pooja Dadlani, who has been working as a manager of Shah Rukh Khan for over a decade, issued a statement (archived) on his behalf, firmly denying Mr Khan’s involvement in this matter and emphasizing that the execution of this successful resolution solely rests with the Indian government officials.
These rumours gained traction because of Shah Rukh Khan’s recent visit to Qatar. During his visit, he met the Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and was the guest of honour at the Asian Football Confederation final match held on 10 February 2024. However, as clarified by the actor’s team, these speculations are baseless.
To know the timeline of the 2023 Qatar espionage case, visit here.
To sum it up, Shah Rukh Khan denies claims of having a role in Qatar’s release of Indian Navy veterans.
